Of course, but the aviation industry is a huge money earner for a country’s economy as evidenced by the Covid pandemic when air travel operations were all but put on hold leaving many commercial pilots without jobs and leisure destinations in despair.
Sometimes, one has to be careful about what one wishes for so as not to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
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Absolutely, very much like coal mining and use of oil, many things are essential for society now, yet may have to be changed or one day cease use altogether.
If I were running Shell I’d pour every spare brass farthing I had into alternative energy sources - the business case must be overwhelming for such an approach. I’d really like flying to be possible in the future, but it’s going to require enormous investment to develop something viable and relatively non-polluting.
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although people will still perhaps need to heat their homes or cook food, of course.
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Electricity generated with minimal fossil fuel use is the answer here - and maybe not too far off for smaller short-haul flights either. But still part of the answer is to cut down on energy use - as it is to cut down on flying.
For many of us living here visiting the UK is essential to maintain contact with family and friends and flying remains the cheapest and quickest way to get there, I’ve priced up getting the train from the Charente Maritime to Norwich (which is where our families live) and the total cost was 1000 euros return for the two of us, in March the same trip using a mix of car (to the airport), plane and then train came to 200 euros all in, why would I ever take the train for the whole journey?
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Because at some point the subsidies on airflight maybe removed but as said earlier travel and tourism brings in lots of money and the world doesnt feature on budget sheets.
Not in my lifetime though which is where the current ‘climate emergency’ debate falls down IMO.
The idea that 000’s of millions of people who currently think nothing of jumping on a plane or cruising for weeks on end are going to suddenly going to stop is fanciful at best. So much of the global economy is now reliant on tourism or instant connectivity and a sudden downturn would have a devastating effect just like the pandemic did, few leaders around the world would be brave enough to say ‘we have to change’ so for now it’s business as usual.
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Indeed - this is very precisely the problem we face. But can we just shrug and carry on as before in the certain knowledge that we are destroying the lives of our children, and their children?
The same ‘elephant in the room’ I started this thread with is still there: we are living with an economic system based fundamentally on selling more and more stuff (or things like flights, cruises, etc). Do we expect all businesses to start asking their customers to buy less ? What then happens to investments ? pensions? jobs ?
In short, changes in business and consumer behaviour must be accompanied by political change - there is no choice. Easing employment disruption through universal basic incomes, huge investments in public transport and other not-for-profit services, nationalisation of the banks and other financial institutions (private banks will collapse without growth anyway), etc - these are just some examples of the huge changes to our lifestyles and economies that we literally have to make.
There is no ‘centrist’ solution to the political leadership problem. The ideology of ‘a little change, but not too much’ just won’t crack it.
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We’re doomed so lets trash the place and have some fun!
Should we no, will we yes of course.
The pandemic and now the war in Ukraine have set back governmental action on climate change for many years.
Thats it blame the Russians
What have the Russians ever done for us? 
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Didn’t they give us the biggest nuke ever exploded? 100 megatons?
But apart from a 100 megaton nuke and some gas, a bit of novichok and dodgy bond accents. What have the Russians ever done for us?
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I’d love Rosa Kleb’s shoes, so cool.
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Bloody Russians!
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And in a similar vein…
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We’ve already got irrigation restrictions in parts of the department and it’s only May, at the same time I have a UK client who wants me to keep his lawn watered so it’s nice and green for a family event in August.
Whereas I tell our chap not to waste water on the grass and it will be what it will be.
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